Men's Basketball Looks to Build on Opening-Night Win Thursday at Southern Indiana

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's basketball squad looks to build on Monday's season-opening win at Delaware when it travels to Evansville, Ind., to take on Southern Indiana on Thursday night. This is the first of two games on this trip, with a date at Kentucky to follow on Saturday.

The Bison are brimming with confidence after an exhibition win at Saint Joseph's and Monday's come-from-behind victory at Delaware. Bucknell averaged 86.5 points in those two games against strong opponents, and both were won in the late stages. In the official lidlifter in Newark, the Bison trailed for almost all of the first 36 minutes of the game before finishing on a 12-0 run for an 85-73 win.

Now the Bison continue their busy road stretch against a Screaming Eagles squad that fell 80-78 in overtime to DePaul of the Big East on Monday. USI was a Division II power before moving up to the Division I ranks two seasons ago. This is a return game from last season, when Bucknell won 67-56 at Sojka Pavilion as part of the Blue Devil Classic.

GAME DIGEST
What: Bucknell (1-0) at Southern Indiana (0-1)
Where: Liberty Arena, Evansville, Ind.
When: Thursday, Nov. 7, 8 p.m. (ET)
Watch: ESPN+
Local Radio: Eagle 107
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: USIScreamingEagles.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES

With a Win over Southern Indiana, Bucknell Would ...

... start a season 2-0 for the first time since 2022-23 (Lebanon Valley, Niagara) and for the first time against two Division I opponents since 2012-13 (Purdue, George Mason).
... start a season 2-0 with both wins on the road for the first time since 2005-06 (Rider, Syracuse).
... improve to 2-0 all-time against the Screaming Eagles.
... improve to 6-8 all-time against teams from the state of Indiana. The Bison have two wins over DePauw and one each against Purdue, Ball State, and USI.
... win a game in the state of Indiana for the first time since the 2012-13 season opener, a 70-65 victory at Purdue.
... improve to 3-3 all-time against the Ohio Valley Conference.

Headlines

Bucknell opened its 130th season of college basketball with a come-from-behind 85-73 win at Delaware on Monday night. The Bison trailed by as many as 12 in the first half, they took their first lead with 3:47 remaining in the game, and then they broke a 73-all tie with a dominant 12-0 run to end the game.
Bucknell's busy opening week continues with a two-game trip to Southern Indiana and Kentucky. This is Bucknell's first-ever game at USI and first-ever meeting with Kentucky. It will not be the team's first game at Rupp Arena, however. The Bison played Butler there in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
The Bison shot 52.7% from the field (10-19 3FG) in the win at Delaware, and the 85 points were their most against a Division I opponent in a non-overtime game on opening night since 1992-93 (97-83 over Mount St. Mary's). Preseason All-Patriot League selection Noah Williamson recorded 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Ian Motta and Josh Bascoe tallied 18 points apiece, and that trio combined to go 7-for-7 from the 3-point arc.
This is year No. 2 under head coach John Griffin III, a 2008 Bucknell graduate who was a standout guard for the Bison. Bucknell went 14-19 overall and 10-8 in the Patriot League last season. The Bison were playing their best basketball at the end of the year and finished in a four-way tie for second place, although tiebreakers relegated them to the No. 5 seed in the Patriot League Tournament. An 80-57 rout of American in the PL quarterfinals was the team's fourth straight victory, and then the Bison took top-seeded Colgate to the final seconds in a 68-65 loss in the semifinals.
Bucknell was picked fourth in this year's Patriot League preseason poll, and junior center Noah Williamson was named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team.

Patriot League Preseason Poll
1. Colgate (14), 156
2. American (4), 144
3. Boston U. (2), 120
4. Bucknell, 115
5. Lehigh, 103
6. Lafayette, 77
7. Army, 64
8. Navy, 61
9. Holy Cross, 40
10. Loyola, 20

Preseason Player of the Year: Matt Rogers, American
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Caleb Kenney, Holy Cross
Preseason All-Patriot League:
Matt Rogers, American
Miles Brewster, Boston U.
Noah Williamson, Bucknell
Tyler Whitney-Sidney, Lehigh
Austin Benigni, Navy

The Bison return all but three members of last year's team. Josh Adoh graduated and is using his extra COVID year at Cal State San Bernardino, a reigning Division II Final Four team. Also graduated from last year's team are top scorer Jack Forrest (16.0 ppg, First Team All-Patriot League) and walk-on Alek Delev.
That continuity leaves the Bison with one of its oldest teams in several years. Of the 15 players on the roster, 10 are either seniors (4) or juniors (6).

Bucknell's Returning Production in 2024-25
Points: 71.4%
Rebounds: 78.0%
Assists: 84.0%
Blocks: 91.2%
Steals: 71.8%
3FG: 61.7%

Southern Indiana is in its third year as a Division I program. Men's basketball was the first varsity sport created by USI in 1970-71, and the Screaming Eagles went on to become a Division II power. They won the 1995 NCAA Division II National Championship, and they captured four NCAA II Midwest Regional Championships and 12 GLVC Championships. The Screaming Eagles made 28 trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament and have won over 1,000 games. Head coach Stan Gouard was a member of that national championship squad in 1995 and was the DII National Player of the Year.
USI took DePaul to overtime in its season opener on Monday but fell 80-78. The trio of Stephen Olowoniyi (23), Jayland Randall (22), and Damoni Harrison (17) accounted for 62 of the team's 78 points. All three are new to the team this season and did not face Bucknell last year. Olowoniyi is a VMI transfer, Randall came in from Alabama A&M, and Harrison transferred from Tallahassee Community College. All told, the Screaming Eagles have 11 new players on the roster this year.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Southern Indiana game will be streamed on ESPN+, with Jevin Redman and Matthew Will on the call from Evansville.
"Voice of the Bison" Doug Birdsong will have the local radio call on Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3) in the Susquehanna Valley.
The audio feed is also available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
Live statistics can be accessed via USIScreamingEagles.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Last Time Out

Bucknell withstood an early 3-point blitz from Delaware and rallied for an 85-73 win in Newark on Monday. The Blue Hens started 6-for-7 from the arc but went just 2-for-19 the rest of the way. The Bison pecked away at was once a 12-point deficit and then exploded to the finish with a 12-0 run to end the game.
Bucknell won by 12 despite holding the lead for only 2:38 of the 40 minutes. The Bison took their first lead of the night on an Elvin Edmonds IV pull-up in the lane with 3:47 to go. Delaware tied it at 73-73 on its next possession with 3:18 remaining, but that would be its last points of the game. Noah Williamson hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 2:08 left to break the tie, and the Bison center made two more buckets down the stretch to ice the game.
Williamson finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds for his fifth career double-double. Ian Motta matched his career high with 18 points, Josh Bascoe also scored 18, and Edmonds finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
Bucknell outscored Delaware 48-27 in the second half and flipped the script after losing at home to the Blue Hens 78-57 in last year's opener in Lewisburg.
Bucknell shot 52.7%, hit 10 of 19 from the arc, and outrebounded Delaware 40-32.

Bucknell vs. Southern Indiana/OVC Series Notes

Bucknell and Southern Indiana will be meeting for just the second time, after the Bison won 67-56 at Sojka Pavilion last season. Bucknell trailed by seven at the half before outscoring the Screaming Eagles 41-23 after the break. Josh Bascoe scored a then-career-high 20 points to lead the Bison, who went 20-for-23 from the foul line in the second half to overcome a cold shooting night from the field. Jack Mielke paced USI with 14 points.
Bucknell is 2-3 all-time against teams that were in the Ohio Valley Conference at the time of the game, including the win over Southern Indiana last year. All three losses came against teams that are no longer members of the OVC (Youngstown State in 1986, Murray State in 1990, Middle Tennessee in 1977), while the other win came against Morehead State at Sojka Pavilion early in the 2011-12 season. That 54-50 victory was part of the Legends Classic. The Bison were held to 15 made field goals in the game, but 10 of them were threes. Bryson Johnson hit six of those and led all scorers with 20 points.

Bucknell Defeats Saint Joseph's in Exhibition Game

Bucknell and Saint Joseph's met in a charity exhibition game on Oct. 26, with proceeds benefitting the Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support.
The Bison won the game 88-82 behind 21 points and 10 rebounds from Elvin Edmonds IV. Noah Williamson tallied 16 points in 24 minutes, and Ian Motta and Josh Bascoe added 13 points each. Achile Spadone and Brandon McCreesh scored eight apiece as Bucknell finished with a 20-0 edge in bench points.
Bucknell went 11-for-26 from 3-point range and shot 44.6% overall. The Bison got to the free throw line 34 times, hitting 27.
The game was tied at 80-80 until Edmonds gave the Bison the lead for good with a 3-point play with 1:03 remaining. He added three more free throws in the final minute to ice the win.

Patriot League Success

Bucknell is 326-172 (.655) all-time in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. Last year marked the 27th time in 34 years that the Bison finished with a PL record of .500 or better.
Bucknell won three straight Patriot League regular-season titles from 2011-13, becoming the first team in league history to accomplish that feat. The Bison had won five in a row and eight of the previous nine before finishing T-6th in 2019-20.
Bucknell has made nine Patriot League Tournament appearances as the No. 1 seed and seven as the No. 2 seed.
Bucknell won Patriot League Tournament titles in 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018. The Bison have made it to the semifinals 25 times and to the championship game 13 times in the league's first 34 years.
The Bison are the only team to go unbeaten in league play in a season (14-0 in 2006).

Home Cooking

Since Sojka Pavilion debuted in 2003, the Bison are 213-85 (.715) overall and 154-47 (.766) against Patriot League foes.
Bucknell won a record 15 home games in 2016-17, and then it matched that figure a year later.

Bison Scholar-Athletes

The Bucknell basketball program has also enjoyed tremendous success in the classroom in recent years. Among the highlights:
In the most recent NCAA graduation rate report (Dec. 6, 2023), Bucknell's 99% Graduation Success Rate (GSR) was tied for the highest mark among all Division I institutions. Columbia, Harvard, Villanova, and Yale also came in at 99%. Men's basketball once again earned high marks at 92%, and 23 of Bucknell's 27 programs recorded 100% GSR scores.
Bucknell won the "academic national championship" in both 2017 and 2018, according to Inside Higher Ed, which completed a full NCAA Tournament bracket based on the 68 competing teams' academic performances.
Bucknell has claimed 142 national Academic All-Americans since 1970, including nine from men's basketball. The total of 142 ranks among the nation's best.
In the Patriot League's 34-year history, the league's men's basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year has come from Bucknell 14 times, including Jack Forrest last year.

Bison Fun Facts

Bucknell's best-known alum is baseball legend Christy Mathewson. An original Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, Mathewson also played football and basketball at Bucknell. He was an All-America drop-kicker as well as a fullback in football, and he played center in basketball back in the day when there was a center jump after every made basket. Bucknell's football stadium — Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium — is named in his honor.
The legendary Jim Valvano was Bucknell's head coach for three seasons from 1972-75. Valvano went 33-42 at Bucknell before moving on to Iona and then North Carolina State. The Bison went from 5-18 the year before he arrived to 14-12 in his final season. The program has had only five head coaches since then.
Bucknell's home arena — Sojka (SOY-ka) Pavilion — is named in honor of former school president Gary Sojka. During his tenure as president from 1984-94, Sojka championed Bucknell's transition to the Patriot League and was a strong advocate for the scholar-athlete model in Division I athletics.
Two Bison freshmen have fathers with ties to the program. Kellen Welch's father, Tom Welch, was an oustanding frontcourt player for the Bison in the 1990s, and his mother, Karen (Horn) Welch competed in track & field and was an All-Patriot League honoree in 1996. Matt Lange is the son of Saint Joseph's head coach Billy Lange, for whom John Griffin III served as associate head coach for four seasons prior to his return to Bucknell.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell has a quick turnaround before playing No. 23 Kentucky on Saturday at 4 p.m. on SEC Network Plus. The Wildcats hammered Wright State 103-62 on Monday at Rupp Arena, with Otega Oweh leading six players in double figures with 21 points. Kentucky does not play again until Saturday.
The Bison host Mount St. Mary's in their home opener next Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion.